<p>Heat pipes can be bent as required for specific applications; however, bending will&nbsp;affect the thermal performance of the heat pipe. &nbsp;Bending may also affect its capillary limit as it may have a significant effect on the liquid pressure drop in the heat pipe wick. In the current work, a comprehensive three-dimensional model is developed to investigate the effects of bending on heat pipes. The few existing&nbsp;numerical simulations in the literature are two-dimensional and have used experimental correlations to include the effects of bending; however, experimental correlations are not an accurate method for determining the effects of bending as even minor geometrical variations can have a profound impact on the performance of the heat pipe. A heat pipe is composed of three regions: the vapor core, the wick and the wall. The proposed numerical simulation solves for the three-dimensional governing equations of mass, momentum and energy in the vapor and liquid regions, as well as the energy equation in the wall. The proposed model is capable of adjusting the operating pressure and temperature of the heat pipe based on the physical and operating conditions, which is not the case for the existing&nbsp;numerical models of bent heat pipes in the literature. The proposed&nbsp;model is used to study the effects of various key parameters including bending radius and angle, as well as the wick type on the performance of heat pipes under various operating conditions. In addition, the effects of a single bend or multiple bends on pressure and temperature distribution is evaluated.</p>

The Effects of Bending on Heat Pipes

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/HT/HT2021/volume/84874

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